...Organization http://org.sagepub.com/ Ways of constructing research questions: gap-spotting or problematization? Jörgen Sandberg and Mats Alvesson Organization 2011 18: 23 originally published online 15 July 2010 DOI: 10.1177/1350508410372151 The online version of this article can be found at: http://org.sagepub.com/content/18/1/23 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com Additional services and information for Organization can be found at: Email Alerts: http://org.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://org.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Citations: http://org.sagepub.com/content/18/1/23.refs.html >> Version of Record - Feb 11, 2011 OnlineFirst Version of Record - Jul 15, 2010 What is This? Downloaded from org.sagepub.com at Sheffield Hallam University on January 18, 2014 Article Organization 18(1) 23–44 © The Author(s) 2011 Reprints and permission: sagepub. co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1350508410372151 http://org.sagepub.com Ways of constructing research questions: gap-spotting or problematization? Jörgen Sandberg Mats Alvesson UQ Business School, University of Queensland, Australia Department of Business Administration, University of Lund, Sweden Abstract This article examines ways of constructing research questions from existing literature, which are likely to promote the development of interesting and influential...
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...and independent franchisees, which operate globally. McDonald's holds a major part of the share in the globally popular restaurant industry in approximately all the countries where it is operating its services (McDonald's, 2009). It doles out some of the favorite foods all around the world like World Famous French Fries, Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Chicken McNuggets and Egg McMuffin (McDonald's, 2009). Among the most precious and renowned brands of the world, McDonald's is one. Approximately on all the countries where the McDonald's operates its services, it holds a major share in the global renowned quick service restaurant industry of the informal eat out market (McDonald's, 2009). McDonald's is a global organization which uses market research to understand the market environment before making any decisions related to market. This will help the company to identify the favorable and unfavorable factors in the environment from the standpoint of the firm. The environmental factors that affect the restaurant industry in which the McDonald's is operating are: political factors, economic factors, technology factors, social-cultural factors and legal factors (Wheelen & Hunger, 2001). Political Factors and legal Factors: Political environment exercises great impact on any industry and business. The developments on the political front affect the economy all the time and thus, the economic environment is a byproduct of the political environment (Kotler, 2002). In...
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...PRODUCT PROMOTION Is the act of advertising a good or services with the short/long term goal of increasing sales. FOUR FACTORS WHICH MARKETING DECISIONS MAKING WITH REGARD TO PROMOTION: 1.) THE PROMOTION BUDGET AVAILABLE The amount of money available for promotion is the real determinant of the mix. BIG companies can make greater and more effective use of advertising than firms with limited resources. Small businesses rely on personal selling dealer displays. 2.) THE NATURE OF THE MARKET The influence of the nature of a company’s market is affected by the Geographic scope of the market, its concentration and type of customers and nature of competition. 3.) THE NATURE OF THE PRODUCT Consumer product and industrial goods frequently require different strategies. For instance, firms marketing convenience goods will rely heavily on manufacturer’s advertising, plus emphasis on dealers display. Personal selling plays a minor role, for industrial Goods such as machinery. 4.) THE STAGE OF THE PRODUCT PROMOTION’S LIFE CYCLE AND THE TARGET PROMOTION PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE (CPLC) – the course of a product’s sales and profit over its lifetime. Every product seem to go to PLC –it is born, goes through several phrases, and eventually dies as younger products come along that better suit and serve the consumer needs. METHODS USED TO PROMOTE A PRODUCT: A. ADVERTISING Is a tool that is available for everyone to use. Presentation and promotion ideas, goods, or services...
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...Cyber Security Project Marci James Liberty University BMIS 520 DR. Delano May 29, 2016 Scope The world of technology is advancing ever year and people are just trying to stay up to date, but there are those in the world that make it there life to stay up on technology but in all the wrong ways. The people that are just every day users of technology do not see the people in the background hoping to gain access to their private information. As technology advances so must the ways people protect their private information; even in places that they think are new and untouchable to the normal person. Even the most technology educated person can fall victim to cyber-attacks and lose of personal data. As technology advances the world of computer security will also change; the word computer is not just referring to a desktop computer that sits a desk but now refers to your tablet, smart phone, and even smart watch. The way that personal data is saved is not just limited to a floppy disc or even a CD-ROM anymore, but now a day there is clouds that will have personal data stored from all over the world sometimes in one location. The discussion in the review below will give more detail on what is coming for technology and as well as how technology is being used against people to receive their personal data. Literature Review Technology is estimated to move even more rapidly within the next twenty years and this all new growth starts this year; with this happening it means that...
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............................................7 GA versus RP.......................................................................................7 Approach............................................................................................10 Results................................................................................................11 3 Research: Word Stress in GA and RP..............................................................10 4 Conclusion...........................................................................................................12 5 Bibliography........................................................................................................13 6 Appendix: Assessment of Recordings and Questionnaire...................................14 1. Introduction As the title suggests, this term paper deals with the nature and characteristics of stress. In the following, the most relevant features of this highly fundamental topic within the linguistics will be covered and illustrated as straightforward as the limitation of ten pages allows to do so. While the first part of this paper is fairly theoretical, the second one represents quite the opposite as it presents the findings of an actual,...
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...Fake Memories of Me by Cathyn McKenna Copyright 2016 ===== 1 September, 1853. Our parent's summer estate outside Arkangel'sk. You, 17, freshly returned from your second year at the Tsar's Imperial Riding Academy, your eyes all aglow with the thoughts of your Commission, two years hence, but still completely dominating your thoughts and words. Me, 25, already bored of The Social Circle, as all heirs were obligated to navigate, the slow gyration of palaces, dances, hunting, small talk, and the never ending search for a marital partner only slightly above your level, at least in income, but certainly not prestige. Rumors of war tainting everything. There was that one bright perfect day. In a week you would be back at the Academy. In a week, I'd be heading for Nizhny Novgorod to romance the Count's daughter, the insufferable thing. But on that day, the last good weather before May, we were brothers again. We drank, we danced, we fenced, we talked deep philosophy and shallow gossip, but we were brothers. Brothers again after so long apart, and so soon to be parted. Who could have known that a year later to the day, a fresh-faced Lieutenant of Horse, newly commissioned, and commanding 65 fellows, would lead a charge to silence a platoon of English cannon, those same cannon smashing the Lieutenant and his men to bits instantly, and mothers across Velikaya Rus smashed for the rest of their lives. I sit now at your cenotaph, as I have every year for the last nineteen...
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...Managing Projects Table of Contents Task 1 3 1.1. Network diagram 3 1.2. Total float 3 1.3. Critical path. 4 1.4 Timetable 4 1.5. Adjusted timetable 5 1.6. Limitations of the network diagrams 6 i. Time 6 ii. Costs 6 iii. Ambiguity 7 iv. Complexity 7 v. Reliability 7 vi. External factors 7 Task 2 7 2.0. Executive summary 7 2.1. Introduction 8 2.1.1. Project management 8 2.1.2. The roles and the scope of the project manager in a company 9 2.2. Project management techniques 10 2.3. Methodology 10 2.4. Project development stages and process 11 Initiation stage 12 Planning and designing stage 13 Execution of the project 13 Monitoring and controlling stage 14 Closing stage 14 2.5. Risks and control problems 14 2.6. Recommendations 16 2.7. Conclusion 16 Reference lists 18 Task 1 1. Network diagram [pic] 2. From the below snapshot derived from a programming software, the total float days is equal to 76 days [pic] 3. From the below diagram, the critical path is determined by the longest duration between the tasks that the project may take to complete. The red arrows denote the path. This time does not include the floats between the tasks but instead the period between the parallel tasks (Nigel 1995). [pic] 4. |ID |Task Name |Duration (Days) |Start ...
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... A TERM PAPER PRESENTED FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI JANUARY – APRIL 2012 Contents SUMMARY OF TERMS 3 ABSTRACT 4 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 5 LITERATURE REVIEW 6 a. Introduction 6 b. The Need for an Audit 7 c. Risk of fraud 8 d. The Auditor-Investor ''Expectation Gap'' 9 e. Auditing Profession and Challenges 9 f. Public opinion 10 g. Family or Personal Relationship 10 h. Integrity 11 i. Inherent limitations of an audit. 11 j. Responsibility of Auditors to Third Parties – Case Law 12 k. International, Assurance Auditing, Standards Board (IAASB) 14 CORPORATE FRAUD CASES 16 CASE STUDY: 21 CONCLUSIONS………………………………………………………………………………24 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………..….25 SUMMARY OF TERMS ISA: International standards of Audit KPC: Kenya Pipeline Company IAASB: International Assurance Audit Board IFAC: International Federation of Accounting USD: United States Dollar KCB: Kenya Commercial Bank BCCI: Bank of Credit International SEC: Securities and Exchange Commission ABSTRACT The way in which auditors perform their duties and the auditing profession in general raises questions and puts the auditors on the spotlight from clients who rely on their reports. Questions on whether the public trust the way auditors perform their secondary duty of detecting errors and frauds, the reliability, completeness and accuracy of their auditing reports have been raised. The research focuses on;...
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...alive and well for many decades. What has changed is the emergence of the global financial market and the modus operendi of the modern day terrorist groups. A terrorist act of sinking a crude oil carrier in the Straits of Hormuz for example, could have a direct impact on the price of crude oil and petroleum on the world market, to say nothing of shipping carrier prices and maritime insurance. Like ripples in a pond, the act would have far reaching consequences. Quantifying terrorism has now become an important tool both for the financial sectors 9who use it predominantly for insurance based risk analysis and also for government bodies who could use it for spotting emerging trends in terrorism and therefore investing in anti and counter terror procedures. So why might it be difficult to quantify terrorism? This paper attempts to answer that question. It looks at the early aspects of terrorism; it’s definitions, typologies and variables in order to establish a base unit from where terrorism can be measured and why terrorism actually needs to be quantified. It will also examine similar data, based on the same aspect of terrorism and examine the differing results. Introduction Early Beginnings “One man willing to throw...
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...THE EFFECTIVENESS BANANA (MUSA X PARADISIACA) PEELS USED AS FERTILIZER APPLIED IN DIFFERENT KINDS OF PLANTS SAMPLES RESEARCHER: BERLENE GAIL H. LAMA CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Background of the study A banana peel, known as a banana skin in British English, is the outer covering of the banana fruit. As bananas, whether eaten raw or cooked, are a popular fruit consumed worldwide, with yearly production over 145 million tonnes in 2011, there is a significant amount of banana peel waste being generated as well. Banana peels are used as feedstock as they have some nutritional value. Banana peels are widely used for that purpose on small farms in regions where bananas are grown. There are some concerns over the impact of tannins contained in the peels on animals that consume them.[3][4] Banana peels are used as feedstock for cattle, goats, pigs, poultry, rabbits, fish and several other species. The specific nutrition contained in peel depends on the stage of maturity and the cultivar; for example plantain peels contain less fibre than dessert banana peels, and lignin content increases with ripening (from 7 to 15% dry matter). On average, banana peels contain 6-9% dry matter of protein and 20-30% fibre (measured as NDF). Green plantain peels contain 40% starch that is transformed into sugars after ripening. Green banana peels contain much less starch (about 15%) when green while ripe banana peels contain up to 30% free sugars. Banana peels are also used for water purification...
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...9-798-062 REV: FEBRUARY 25, 2006 PANKAJ GHEMAWAT JAN W. RIVKIN Creating Competitive Advantage Some companies generate far greater profits than others. The pharmaceutical maker ScheringPlough produced an economic profit of more than $10 billion during the period 1984-2002. That is, the accounting profit it generated exceeded its cost of equity capital by that amount. Over the same period, U.S. Steel produced an economic loss of nearly $500 million; its cost of capital exceeded its accounting profit by a wide margin. Such large differences in economic performance are commonplace. Understanding their roots is crucial for strategists. Differences in industry structure shed some light on such differences in performance. To a certain extent, Schering-Plough has generated more economic profit than U.S. Steel because the pharmaceutical industry is structurally more attractive than the steel industry. Rivalry in the pharmaceutical market is muted by factors such as patent protection, product differentiation, and expanding demand; in contrast, rivalry in the steel industry is fierce—fueled by excess capacity, limited differences across products, and slow growth. Many pharmaceutical users hesitate to switch among products or brands, while steel customers are usually willing to switch among producers to get a better price. Many pharmaceuticals are made from commodities with little labor input, while unions exercise such power in the steel industry that labor costs often account for...
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...Chapter 2: Strategy and Human Resources Planning If nothing else, my students should learn that… • It is important for HRM to align its policies and processes with the business strategy in order to provide value to the organization (external fit), and that the policies and processes are mutually reinforcing (internal fit). HR planning follows the same pattern as organizational strategic planning, and hence the two processes are complementary. • In order to evaluate the effectiveness of strategy, it is imperative to take the ‘people side’ into consideration. Sole reliance on financial documents (e.g., financial statements, cash flow statements, income statements) largely ignores investment in human capital. Learning objectives • Identify the advantages of integrating human resources planning and strategic planning. • Understand how an organization’s competitive environment influences its strategic planning. • Understand why it is important for an organization to do an internal resource analysis. • Describe the basic tools used for human resources forecasting. • Explain the linkages between competitive strategies and human resources. • Understand what is required for a firm to successfully implement a strategy. • Recognize the methods for assessing and measuring the effectiveness of a firm’s strategy. Why is this chapter important? The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the nexus of strategy and HR planning...
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...reference properly (3) 59.6% Presentation skills (4) 55.3% How to revise your written work effectively (5) 51.1% Learning / Research skills (6) 48.9% Essay writing skills (7) 44.7% Basic writing skills (8) 12.8% Unfortunately, you need to get to grips with (8) before you can truly master (1)…. Writing Skills for Psychologists Factors which contribute to your written work’s grade include (1) Your general writing skills. (How to write) (2) Your understanding of what is required of an undergraduate essay / lab report / presentation. (Why to write) (3) Your understanding of the topic. (What to write) This lecture will focus on 1 and 2. HOWEVER improving 1&2 will inevitably lead to improvements in 3! The following factors are equally important, and are down to you. 1. How interested you are in the topic. 2. The importance you attach to receiving a high grade for a particular piece of work. 3. The amount of effort you are prepared to make given other academic commitments. Writing Skills for Psychologists Why writing skills are important: - For faculty too….. We are trying to teach you how to “do science”. Science progresses by researchers testing hypotheses experimentally, and then publishing a written account of their rationale, procedures, findings, and interpretations. All faculty in EP are “research active” - we write papers which are published in academic journals. This involves a...
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...Management on Information Technology Projects Abstract The ever-increasing penetration of projects as a way to organise work in many organisations necessitates effective management of multiple projects. This has resulted in a greater interest in the processes of project portfolio management (PPM), with more and more software tools being developed to assist and automate the process. Much of the early work on PPM concentrated on the management of IT projects, largely from the perspective of the management of resources and risk. Many of the recent articles have been by vendors of the software, promoting the value of the PPM process. However, the claims made in those articles are typically only supported by anecdotal evidence. In this paper, we assess whether there...
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...In the fall of 1962, Mr. Leonard Prescott, vice-president and general manager of the Weaver-Yamazaki Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. of Japan, was considering what action, if any, to take regarding his executive assistant, Mr. John Higgins. In Mr. Prescott's opinion, Mr. Higgins had been losing his effectiveness as one who was to represent the U.S. parent company because of his extraordinary identification with the Japanese culture. The Weaver Pharmaceutical Company was one of the outstanding concerns in the drug field in the United States. As a result of extensive research it had developed many important drugs and its product lines were constantly improved, giving the company a strong competitive advan¬tage. It also had extensive international operations throughout many parts of the world. Operations in Japan started in the early 1930's, though they were limited to sales activities. The Yamazaki Pharmaceutical House, a major pro¬ducer of drugs and chemicals in Japan, was the franchise distributor for Weaver's products in Japan. Export sales to Japan were resumed in 1948. Due to its product superiority and the inability of major Japanese pharmaceutical houses to compete effectively because of lack of recovery from war damage, the Weaver Company was able to capture a substantial share of the market for its product categories. In order to prepare itself for increasingly keen competition from Japanese producers in the foreseeable future, the company decided to undertake local production...
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